This invention pertains to the art of controlling a route of travel of crawling pests or vermin such as arthropods and rodents. It finds significant usefulness in controlling the route of travel of pests including mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, cockroaches, spiders and ants, including red imported fire ants.
The invention is particularly applicable to the control or repellency of vermin crawling along vertically situated surfaces and will be described with reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention has broader application, such as in connection with preventing crawling vermin from passing along non-vertical surfaces. The invention may also be advantageously employed in other environments and applications.
Arthropod pests including roaches, spiders and ants are attracted to electrical and electromagnetic fields. They are known to invade the inner workings of telephone cable boxes, televisions, computers, traffic control apparatus, microwaves and other equipment. They often find their way into electrical equipment housings and nest in these dark spaces. This leads to a buildup of excrement, arthropod carcasses, webs and other items such as dirt and sand particles brought in by these pests (e.g. during colonization). Eventually, the presence of these undesirable elements causes primary electrical systems to short out and fail. Also, repair of electrical equipment requires removal of the undesirable material and often leads to bites or stings by the unwelcome vermin residing in the housing.
Underground telephone cable access housings are situated on the ground, or partially below the surface of the earth. These housings are easily and often invaded by spiders, ants, roaches and other pests which find access to the interior region of the housing by burrowing through the ground. The low level electrical fields within the housing attract the arthropods.
In addition to being attracted to electrical fields, cockroaches specifically find the dark area inside the housing a harborage, and take up residence therein. They subsist on, among other things, arthropod carcasses. Once the arthropods die, their corpses produce an ammonia gas which oxidizes and damages telephone wires and diminishes the decibel level on the phone lines. Spiders also form webs in the housings. The webs absorb moisture which causes shorts across electrical circuitry.
Another particularly undesirable creature to inhabit the electrical fields and, in particular, telephone cable access housings is the Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA). Over the years, these red fire ants have become a problem and pose a health hazard in warm climates and are rapidly spreading with alarm. As with other pests, the fire ants are likewise attracted to electrical fields and as such are often found in electrical equipment. They often pack themselves around relays and connectors, causing serious damage to the equipment and the surrounding environment. The presence of such ants in electrical equipment creates a health hazard for persons working in the immediate area and often causes electrical shorts and corrosion.
In addition, farrow ants and fire ants have been known to crawl up vertical structures, such as table legs and the like, and have become a severe threat in hospitals, nursing homes and even in research laboratories which house research animals in cages on tables. The ants are able to approach and bite a human or animal, thus causing serious allergic reaction as well as spreading infection and disease. In many instances, this can be dangerous to the comfort and health of all involved by creating unsanitary and offensive work environments and causing job loss, labor delays, and loss of productivity to workers and industry.
It would be desirable to develop an environmentally safe device for eliminating arthropod pests from gaining access to electrical equipment or in areas where they create a nuisance or do not belong. The device should act as a deterrent, sending the undesirable crawling pests back into the ground or to the place from which they emanate.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved vermin barrier which overcomes all of the above referenced problems and others and provides a means for control against crawling vermin which is simple to use, economical to manufacture, efficacious and environmentally safe.